Abstract
Kaizen is a Japanese management concept and targets improvements in small steps. Kaizen means all personnel are expected to stop their work when they encounter any abnormality and, along with their supervisor, suggest an improvement to resolve the abnormality. Kaizen has the aim to be applied in daily life and routines, not only during working hours. The improvement should be gradual and infinite. It should pursue the perfection. The employees should be continuously engaged in company’s life and improvement of every aspect of the company (processes, products, infrastructure, etc.). This improvement throughout all aspects of life is related to the great attention that is paid to needs and requirements of customer (Helmold et al. 2017).
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Follmann, J., Laack, S., Schütt, H., & Uhl, A. (2013). Lean transformation at Mercedes-Benz. Retrieved 24 Nov 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272484962_Lean_Transformation_at_Mercedes-Benz_Identifying_the_Transformational_Opportunities_for_the_Retail_Value_Chain
Helmold, M. & Dathe, T., & Büsch, M. (2017). Praxisbericht aus der Bahnindustrie – Bombardier Transportation. Veränderte Anforderungen durch Global Sourcing. In Beschaffung aktuell. 4.5.2017. Retrieved 17 May 2018. https://beschaffung-aktuell.industrie.de/einkauf/veraenderte-anforderungen-durch-global-sourcing/.
Helmold, M., & Samara, W. (2019). Progress in performance management. Industry insights and case studies on principles, application tools, and practice. Management for professionals. Heidelberg: Springer.
Kaizen Institute. (2019). https://de.kaizen.com/.
Liker, J. K. (2004). The Toyota way. Madison: McGraw-Hill.
Ohno, T. (1990). Toyota production system. Beyond large scale production. New York: Productivity Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Helmold, M. (2020). Kaizen: Continuous Improvements in Small Steps. In: Lean Management and Kaizen. Management for Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46981-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46981-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-46980-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-46981-8
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)